Last year, the $400,000 salary given to new San Diego State President Elliot Hirschman became the target of critics. Hirschman got $100,000 more than his predecessor, at a time when students were absorbing a two-year, 22-percent fee increase:"When you have that kind of economic system, you ought to set an example that we're going to share the pain while others are, in fact, in difficult times, we're also not going to take advantage by increasing our salaries," Yee said.

Yee's bill also seeks to cap the salaries of newly hired administrators at no more than 105 percent of their predecessor's pay.

University of California President Mark Yudof has long defended higher salaries, saying they keep UCs competitive and they help avoid the often higher cost of replacing someone.